John Keane was one of the founding members of the Olympic Council of Ireland and served as its first President from 1922-29. He had been raised on the family farm but moved to Dublin at age 18 to take a clerical position with an agricultural firm. A difficult man who was highly unpopular as an administrator of Irish sport, Keane would later end up owning that company. As a youth he won two All-Ireland Football medals (1898/99) and was the Irish 120 yards hurdles champion in 1900. Keane was co-opted onto the IOC in June 1922, after proclaiming to Pierre de Coubertin that he was President of the Gaelic Athletic Association, which was not true. However, he did help found the Olympic Council of Ireland, serving as the first President, and the National Athletic and Cycling Association of Ireland, which combined, and helped resolve a feud between, the Gaelic Athletic Association and the Irish Amateur Athletic Association. He also directed the Aonach Tailteann Games in the 1920s and early 1930s. In 1951 his IOC membership status was questioned when it was pointed out that he had not paid dues for several years, and he was de-commissioned in September 1951.
Ireland